Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid

Comments

Personally, I think what they should have done instead this type of hybrid junk, is to have a diesel option. Diesel seems to be a better deal than hybrid. Add bio diesel on top of that and well, I think it would be better.

A hybrid car that only gets 32 mpg (max) is completely pointless - like so much else that comes from Detroit these days. We are probably going to be paying $5.00/gal within 2 years. Why would I buy Malibu when a Prius will best its mileage by 50% to 75% (if you are a typical urban freeway crawler).Pointless. I wouldn't even take a first look at a Malibu.

It's sole purpose is for Chevy to say "Look, we have a hybrid". It's not designed to give you a true hybrid option like that of the Prius. It's a waste of R&D funds and a waste of production cost and a waste of our money. It's no wonder American automakers are in such trouble financially. They keep doing stupid things like this.

Scortch, the market, the hundreds of millions of people in the world who might buy a new car of the 2008 model year, is fickle. The people who want to spend too much to get a full hybrid that delivers 50 mpg bought the Prius and never got their 50 mpg in regular use. They were consistently chagrined that the Corolla, not even pretending to be a hybrid, gets 40 mpg and establishes a darned solid baseline of comparison.Since the 2008 Malibu hybrid is a hybrid assist, doesn't do much, but does do something measurable, it needs to be a cheap option. It is . Back when the Prius was a new choice, I calculated that the payoff time for me was 10 years if the Prius delivered 50 mpg. At 45 or thereabouts mpg, the Prius battery pack can't last long enough for the Prius to ever break even in the Corolla comparison. The Malibu might not impress the eco-purists with it's technological whiz-banginess, but for the green eye shades crowd its a more realistic choice than a Prius. The Malibu hybrid assist actually can deliver tangible $ benefits if you keep it for a realistic number of years of $3 and $4 gasoline. As the market has developed, it's become obvious that other than a small part of the population which wants to pay too much for too little economic benefit, the market really wants cars that look good and go fast. The market is telling the manufacturers that some people will buy a hybrid if it looks better and goes faster than a Prius. For people who want a car that gets good gas mileage in 2008, there is the 40 mpg cheap Corolla or the even better choice of a 38 mpg cheaper Aveo.

I have and remain convinced that GM, putting 2-stage hybrids in pickups and SUV's will sell better at 20 mpg than Toyota or Honda can at 45 mpg. The 20 mpg pickup is a 25% or 30% improvement. The 45 mpg subcompact is only an 12% improvement.

I tend to agree with you, but I think the Volt could be a game changer (assuming it arrives on time, and delivers on GMs promises).

I wonder if due to the new CAFE standards if GM is trying to put a little hybrid into everything they do? Even if each only increases mileage marginally, a small gain across the board is probably more beneficial to their bottom-line than having a bunch of gas guzzlers and one knock-out hybrid.

The Volt will more than likely be out of reach of most people, if it ever arrives. It'll be another 5-10 years at this rate.

Thing is, if GM is going to spend all that R&D money on bringing a hybrid into existence for GM vehicles, why not do it right instead of the crap they came up with? If they really wanted to be green, it would be a lot better than the junk they have.

It would be MUCH more beneficial to their bottom line if they did it right to begin with.

The government should require hybrids to get xx more mileage than the equivalent gas only version of a vehicle, before they give any kind of credits or be recognized at all. Maybe we need a new category other than hybrid, since GM has proven that just because it is a hybrid, doesn't mean it's green or better.

The Malibu hybrid should be getting 34 or so city mileage at least. Even the Prius is finding it hard to justify the cost of ownership in some cases. The Malibu hybrid would no near be able to justify it's cost of ownership. It puts more of a burden on the consumer instead of helping them.

It's just like E85, just because it uses a different fuel, doesn't make it better. E85 as it is currently isn't that green at all once you look at the big picture of corn based ethanol.

Trying to pull one over on the public and saying you are green doesn't make you green.

What amazes me is how dependable and trouble free the Toyota Hybrid system has been when you consider it's complexity. We have some friends with an older Prius with over 100 K miles and they havent had a single problem. CR predicts reliability above average...excellent. This applies to the Japanese made cars as well as the Ford Escape which uses the same system.

Why cant GM come up with a similar system? The 2MPG increase is a joke. :blush:

Toyota has set the benchmark for hybrids, let the battle begin. GM's attempt at hybrids is laughable, at this pace they will never catch Toyota. Ford's hybrid is actually Toyota's first generation hybrid system. Ford wanted to get in the game quickly and purchased their hybrid from Toyota and paid big $$.

gm tahoe's two mode hybrid is more advanced than prius'. tahoe 21/22 rating is day and night better than sequoia's 14/19 rating. think it is low? it is the same as camry 4cylinder city. it can haul 8 people, 6000lbs, 6.0ltr v8. it is very EFFICIENT.

toyota make great small cars. look at prius and assume it is gas-only you would expect it get 30 city, (for its size, functionality, fit, versa all similar), with hybrid it has about 50% boost of fuel economy. Tahoe is the same if not more.

Tahoe's saving of fuel is much more than prius. It has bigger environmental impact than the tiny prius.

The only three hybrids made by Toyota are the Highlander ,Prius and Camry. If I'm wrong,it must have just come out...like today.I do know that the Highlander Hybrid gets about 30MPG.,the Prius can pretty much guarantee 44MPG all around. The Ford Escape ,using Toyota's technology gets over 30 MPG,so the 22 that Tahoe gets is a joke.Still if it actually gets 21 MPG in the city,I would be very impressed.(and surprised) PS if the GM system is really all that great...why is it that the AURA and the Chevy hybrids are rated no better than my conventional KIA Optima?

in the full size suv/truck market, toyota does not have any hybrid offerings, when people brag about prius's milage, you have to consider that is a less capable vehicle than the full size suv. there are lot of customers in the full size vecicle segment, gm leads in that segment. period. toyota leads in the smaller vehicle segment. you do not drive larger vehicle does not mean it is nonexsist.

"I do know that the Highlander Hybrid gets about 30MPG.,the Prius can pretty much guarantee 44MPG all around. The Ford Escape ,using Toyota's technology gets over 30 MPG,so the 22 that Tahoe gets is a joke."

Is this how you measure efficiency without considering vehicle segment? sure you would not understand that a military tank if get 5mpg is more efficient than a prius. a honda crx 20yrs ago without hybrid gets over 40mpg. according to your logic that is very efficient., look at its size and weight. I can not believe how people read a post.

I agree that Malibu hybrid's 2mpg gain is disappointing, it does not have a big price hike either.

"GM does not have a working hybrid that helps with fuel savings, period. They CLAIM 2 MPG more but in reality, it's no better than changing your driving habits and buying better fuel."

How about the buses? the coming full size suv and pickup truck will have a larger impact than the tiny prius. sure you can get 2mpg gain by changing driving habit, better fuel etc, but that is not a scientific way of measuring. everything being equal, that is the rule, and you can get 10% saving with this bas hybrid on top of what you just mentioned.

As your comments that I do not know lot about toyota's hybrid offerings, where do you get that?

people think toyota is greener, it is true, but not a whole lot, as it is expanding its product line to bigger vehicles. it truck is actually less efficient than gm's. their average fleet MPG is very similar to GM's. surprise?

Overall, GM's green advertising is a scam along with their hybrid offerings.

One day, in the future, when every one else is using hydrogen, GM will come out with these fuel efficient suvs and trucks. The future is not now. Look how many years the Prius has been out and now the Camry and Highlander and Ford's hybrid offerings. GM is YEARS behind and then tries to make the people believe it's green.

Yes, I am a GM owner too.

I just think the Malibu hybrid is a scam. It's definitely not a TRUE hybrid in the way that Toyota has defined it and built it for the last 10+ years (7 years in the U.S.). The Prius and Camry compared to the Malibu, are more than capable of being compared to each other.

Overall, GM's green advertising is a scam along with their hybrid offerings.

I think the Saturn VUE is doing ok for itself. It is bigger than the Escape Hybrid and gets better mileage on the highway. The Malibu is bigger than the Camry and has 50% more trunk space. That tiny trunk in the Camry would be a deal killer for me, if I was interested in a small sedan.